Textile spreader



'o12,1,948. E. s. BEARD, 2,450,932-

' TEXTILE SPREADER l Filed Feb. 27,194?

Inventor Edward S Beard j Patented Oct. 12, 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT-1 oFFlCE i 2,45o,9s2 TEXTILE SPREADER E ward s. Beard, Spring City, Pa. Application February 27, 1947, Serial No. 731,184

2 Claims (01. ate-55) i The present invention relates to spreaders such as are used in the textile trade and industry for spreading tubular webbing made, for example, from cotton, wool, rayon; silk and the like.

Tubular material spreaders in this same field I of endeavor are,-of course, not new. -What is more, there are variant types which are in use or have been proposed for use and they. serve, primarily, to spread the. webbing as it-passes thereover and to thereafter assist in reeling or winding same into a skein or other convenient form to later assist in the making of underwear "and the like." These spreaders are used,. as a matter of fact, to control and govern the. size of undershirts, such as are prepared from tubular stock of the nature under advisement. Spreaders are made in diiferent sizes and each one is generally inch larger in width than the other, the lengths being generally the same; and, as. stated, the spreader is commonlyused prior .to the completion of a shirt or equivalent garment. 1

" In the trade, after the webbing is bleached,

possessed of the utmost of simplicity and is otherwise such in design and adaptable con-' struction as to better fulfill the requirements of the textile industry in this specific phase thereof.

The fact that some of these spreaders in use are fairly complicated and are often fragile in general make-up, it is another purpose of the invention to provide a spreader which is strong and durable, is destined to long life and is strengthened because of the adaptation and allocation of the complemental features which .go to form the complete device.

Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the appended claims.

In the accompanying sheet of drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the views:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a tubular I 7 2 textile spreader constructed in the invention. I Figure -2 is a perspective view showing major portions'of a winding and reeling frame for producing theskein; this showing the manner in which the tubing is sized by spreading and is then. conveniently woundfor subsequent usage. Figure '3 Ba fragmentary detailed section showing portions of thetextile tubing, a p0rtion of the spreader" andcomplemental rollers for pulling the tubing over the spreader .for reeling. w I Referring now to the drawings by distinguishw ing referencenumerals, the textile tubing spreader, in a unitary sense, is in the nature of an open-Work frame. It is preferably constructed from stainless steel and the over-all length is fairly much .the same in different spreaders employed, they vary in width, .as stated, from' six inches to forty-two inches in order to determine the sizes for shirts, from small to extremely large. The spreader in the instant case is characterized essentially by a U-shaped 1 frame 5 including rectilinearly straight side limbs B and 1 and a curvate connecting'portion orbight 8. The corresponding ends of the limbs 6, and 1 are adjoined by a base-bar whose intermediate portion 9 is cylindrical in cross-sectional form and whose endportions are rectangular in cross-sectional form and fashioned into extensions in which join with the ends of the limbs 6 and 1. Of essential importance is the stabilizing and reinforcing means employed. This consists of converging rods or stays H and I2 connected at their converging ends to the center of the bight 8 and connected at their remaining ends to the outer end-portions of the cylindrical portion 9 of the base-bar.

Reference is had now to the spreader as used in conjunction with the rolling and reeling machine or means. This includes a frame structure l3 including uprights I 6 with a plurality of idling and material smoothing rollers l5, l6 and I1 therebetween. It further includes outstanding arms IS with a supporting cross-rod l9 therebetween., The spreader is rested partly on the cross-rod l9 and with its opposite base-rod portion in close proximity to the rollers l6 and H, as brought out in Figure 3. The reeling shaft 20 has its end-portions removably mounted in adapter frames 2| on the uprights, the shaft rising as the windings or convolutions are built up to form the roll or so-called skein 22. Then, the skein may be detached or employed as is accordance with thereafter customary in the manufacture of garments employing sized and rolled tubular knitted fabrics. All of these Spreaders, as has been before pointed out, are for the same basic purpose, that is, to adjust tubular fabrics knitted on circular knitting machines to size and to form same into a skein for convenient and manufacturing advantages.

In practice, the spreader may, he. held in posi tion by a support bar H! on the frame as shown, or it may be laid or placed on a table or the like (not shown) and the tubing allowed to pass over it and then between the various rollers f5; 5 and l! for final reeling purposes. It-is'simple and as far as is known, is the strongest on the market today and its strength is emphasized by the U-shaped formation and the base-bar between the limbs, the braces between the base-bar and apex or bight portion of the U-shaped' part. Other Spreaders wear, bend and break, which has led to the production of the instant spreader, one which is sufficiently durable andl'suitably 'sized and shaped to accomplish requisite ends with the utmost in efficiency and. certainty. As stated, the structure is unusually simple with no attachments to be bothered with and is of readily notic'eab'le and appreciable strength. It is to be noted, too, that the. revolving skeih Z2 draws or pulls the tubing over thespreader and then between the several rollers 45, f6 and I! in an obvious andipractical manner.

A careful consideration of the foregoing de-- scription in conjunction'with the invention as illustrated in the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding and impression of the alleged features of merit andnovelty sufficient to' clarify the construction of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement-of parts maybe resorted to in actual practice solong as'no-departure is made from the invention as claimed.

I claim:

1'. A tubular fabric spreader for use in the textile industry comprising a frame including a III-shaped portion, a base rod between the ends of the limbs of said U-shaped portion, said base 4 rod having a cylindrical central portion and reduced end-portions the reduced end-portions being connected to the adjacent ends of the limbs of the U-shaped portion, and a pair of converging reinforcing rods within the confines of said U-shaped portion and connected at their diverging ends to the base rod and connected at their converging ends to the inner marginal surfaces of the central region of the bight of said U-shaped portion, all portions of said frame being in the same plane.

2. A tubular fabric spreader for use in the textile industry comprising a sturdy openwork frame embodying an elongated U-shaped member, a transverse rod situated between and rigidly secured at its ends to the terminal ends of the limbs of said U-shaped member, the portions of the latter being cylindrical in cross-section and of predetermined diameter, the major portion of said transverse rod being also cylindrical in crosssection but of a diameter greater than the diameter of said portions, and a pair of cylindrical forwardly converging finishing and stabilizing rodsthe same in diameter as the stated portions, the converging ends of the latter rods bein close together and. integrated with the inner marginal surface of the bight of said U-shaped member and the rear diverging ends of said rods being spaced inwardly from said limbs and integrated -with the forward surface of the cylindrical por tion of'said transverse rod.

EDWARD S. BEARD.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patenti UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

